Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

I am due in twelve weeks and I cant stop thinking about these vaccination stories. Does anyone believe that its better to split up the shots rather than getting them as scheduled?? This is a big controversy and my doc says there is no correlation and its not true!!! any feelings on this??

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

I am not well versed in all the autism information. But I have not split or delayed any of my DSs shots because truly I dont believe their is a correlation.

I know someone who is a ped and he has 2 sisters in his practice, one recd the vaccinations on time as schedued and is autistic....the other did a modified/delayed schedule and before receiving the dreaded MMR shot was diagnosed as autistic....

My feeling is that there is a genetic predisposition to autism...

Also as I understand it the "mercury" was the main ingredient that was at the heart of all the debates and most shots are now thermisol free..

Just my feeling, you should do your own research and make your own decision.

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

You should do a search on here, this has been widely debated on these boards.

Personally, I do not believe there is a link and my DS has gotten all of his shots on time and he is 21 months old and thriving.

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

Message edited 11/23/2011 1:52:13 PM.

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

I have been inthe field for a very long time. My knowledge can be a blessing and a curse. Guess what? With all of my training, research and years of experience, I don't believe in the link at all. I also believe in a genetic link and/or predisposition. We do not plan on delaying or splitting any vaccinations.

Message edited 1/28/2009 9:56:51 PM.

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

There is no evidence whether it has a link or that it does not have a link.

This is what I found out. All medical doctors and people following the pediatric guidelines will deny any link. Yet, cannot prove either that it does not have a link. So it's not just one side. Right now, they just deny it.

Yet, I suggest you read from people who have children from autism and what they have to say about it and draw your own conclusion and decide what is best for you.

For what it's worth, and this is both DH and MY opinion, at this time, we are no longer vaccinating our son. We are still believer in vaccines. They in the grand scheme of things prevent horrible diseases. DS never had the MMR. Yet was still vaccinated with other vaccines (Dtap, HIB, most recently chicken pox). We drew our own conclusion on DS milestones, regress phases, his medical history, the time of his vaccines, the time he got viral infections, etc...

Right now, 1 in 94 boys will have autism. Those are the real stats.

Message edited 1/28/2009 10:02:24 PM.

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

It could be a lot of factors. My brother had a HORRIBLE reaction to the DPT shot...I mean high fever, and you would try to move his limbs and he would scream he was in so much pain. He has autism, and the symptoms started soon after he received the shot. However, my mother has cousins with autism on both sides of her family, and my nephew has had all of his shots on time and is absolutely fine (and my SIL has an aunt with autism too, so it runs on both sides of my nephew's family). So who knows? Personally I would do research and try to reach a decision that is right for you and your child.

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

I think that you really need to research and have all of the information that you need. Do what makes YOU comfortable.

I am not going to get into the specifics of my view on the issue because it is a subject that can easily set people off. I believe that you need to do what makes you comfortable.

Good luck.

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

I don't believe it for one minute -- and m nephew has autism.

You need to agree with your ped, otherwise find another. You can't be questioning your professionally trained MD....

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

my sister teaches very autistic childern in Maryland

most of them have not have any shots

that kills the theory for me

she doesn't believe it either- she graduated with a masters in EI from John Hopkins- so I trust her opinion on the subject- it was discussed in great detail in her classes

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

autism is a spectrum disease... that means that it is primarily categorized according to symptoms, rather than a specific cause... the cause/ causes are unknown. there's a genetic component (where some families have increased succeptibilities), but this does not mean everyone in the family is autistic. To the contrary, most family members still don't have it.

Many parents have correlated the development of autism to either an averse reaction to a vaccination (high fever) or a bad infection (once again, with a high fever).

The only thing that is certain is that thimerisol (the vaccine preservative) is NOT a factor. a huge epidemiological study proved that beyon a reasonable doubt.

The other thing that seems to be true is that autistic kids have improper myelination of their brains (the brain myelinates (or 'the wiring gets insulated') during the first 2 years of life.

One current theory (the one I suspect may be true) is that a super-strong immune reaction (either to a vaccination or an illness) spurs off an autoimmune response where the immune system attacks the cells that myelinate... the myelinating cells die off prematurely and the brain wiring lacks proper insulation. The genetic pre-disposition likely comes in as a mild mutation somewhere in the immune system that increases the likelyhood of autoimmune diseases. I'm not an MD, but I am a neuroscientist, and this is the theory I suspect may be true.

I also have a bad personal history with averse vaccine reactions and autoimmune disease... so I'm being super-careful and Eryk is only getting the most crutial vaccinations prior to his 2nd birthday. after his brain is myelinated, and before he goes to school, he'll get the remaining immunizations...
In the end, you must do what you feel is best for your child. talk to your ped and make your decision from that info....

HTH

Message edited 1/29/2009 12:16:41 AM.

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

Well..I beleive there is no correlation but just to be safe my dr is willing to delay...so I see no harm in delyaing, my ds is not in day care or anything

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

my feelings are it is a very personal decision, one that you need to research

for me, I can say that I do not believe that there is a link between vaccinations and autism at all and my dd has gotten all of her shots on time

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

It's funny how opinions can change on this...I never for one minute thought vaccines played any part of autism.

And while I still do NOT think it's vaccines that "cause" autism, I do believe it's the reactions that COULD be responsible for bringing out the genetic predisposition...

I also think that ANY high fever (whether from vaccines or not) could happen to cause an underlying condition to emerge. There have been many many cases where this has happened....

I looked back to my sons vaccine schedule. It was recorded and I remember so clearly that at 2 months he had such an awful reaction. He had 4 vaccines at once and had a 104 fever on and off for 2 days. I never ever thought about it at that time. But now this piece of me wonders...

He has not been diagnosed with autism but he has a few quirks that could place him on the spectrum. We just don't know.

One thing I DO know is that the next baby will never receive more than 2 vaccines at once. It's what I'M comfortable with. We will continue to vaccinate without a doubt...I don't believe in not vaccinating..more harm than good can come out of it.

But when you are the parent of a child in question its amazing how things appear differently. If nothing had ever been different with Johnny, I would be saying the same thing as all these other moms...and thats the truth!

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

My understanding is this

#1- They can call these shots thermisol "free" but they are allowed to have a certain amount in them while still calling them "free"

and

#2- There are childrenw ho have some sort of genetic predisposition and yes, a vaccine can trigger the emergence of autism- but only in children who have this gene

There are risks both ways. I chose to space out some of Sydnie's shots in the very beginning because they are born with maternal immunities and I did not want her getting 6 vaccines (4 in 1 and 2 more) at her 8 weeks visit when she was only 9 lbs. But I do want her getting them so we got the combo shot and we are already catching up on all the others. I just think it's too much for their little bodies.

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

I personally don't believe in the link I do think there is a genetic link and a link to older parents (fathers) but most of the people I know who have autism - have other family members on the spectrum and many never received some of their shots (like MMR) when they were diagnosed.

There is a great book - that discusses pros and cons, the dangers of the diseases and why you would want to or not want to vaccinate for each illness - It is called the vaccine book by Dr. Sears - you can get it at any book store. It is a great book for parents who want to get more educated on the individual shots.

I personally vaccinate - on my peds schedule - but he never gives more than 1-2 shots at any visit - I'm not crazy about the every 2 month CDC recommendation where they get multiple ones at a visit. It is important to trust your Ped and their education - but it is also important for you to be educated yourself. If you don't trust your peds advice maybe you need to find a new one.

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

From what I've read, the idea of a link between autism and vaccines stems largely from the fact that autism is often diagnosed around the time kids get some of the major vaccines (MMR, for example).

I don't think that there is any evidence that there is a link/correlation between the vaccine and autism, just a coincidence that the vaccine is given around the time of the diagnosis.

There was one instance that I read about wherein a girl was given 9 vaccines at once to catch up because she missed several of them. There was a genetic factor of some sort in her case, I can't remember what it was, but this is the only case I know about where there was any sort of "proof" of a link but it was not a link to autism perse, it was a link to the underlying medical issue she had, combined with 9 vaccines.

In any case, I think it is a very personal choice. We choose to vaccinate DD on time as I think it is important to protect her from known diseases. However, we don't give her more than 2 shots per visit, if we need to go back for more, we schedule another visit. Not because I think there is a link, just because I just don't want to overload her system with side effects of any kind, including fevers, etc.


It is a though choice-I would also do a search-people with way more information on this have posted before and maybe that can help you

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

Message edited 1/29/2009 9:03:33 AM.

Re: Vaccinations.... And the scary link to Autism?

maybebaby, I completely agree with you. THe problem is they just don't know what 'sets' off Austism.

I never posted this on the boards but DS developed a 'neurological twitch' a few days after his 9-month vaccines.
He had a stuffy nose and the doctor recemmended to get vaccinated anyway. I listened to the doctor and DS ended up with high fevers and a very bad cold. A couple days later he developed this twitch (I would call it a tick, but the doctors said no). He would shrug his shoulders every 2 minutes nonstop.
Do I think it is related? I don't know - but they can not explain why he suddenly developed the twitch. All they could tell me is that since he was developing normally, that there is nothing we can do but 'wait it out' to see what develops'.
The twitch is all but gone now, very rarely will we see it - but I have been very cautious (especially that he is due for MMR now) to give him something that *may* have a link. This is something I would have never thought twice about and would have scoffed at anyone who said they were linked, but after dealing with specialists, hospital visits and neurological & blood testing I am a different person.
I am delaying the MMR because I just don't know what caused his previous twitch and am not willing to place that bet that my son won't be affected.

Message edited 1/29/2009 9:16:11 AM.